Alyssum Hailes and the Other
by Ayane M
Summary: There are always other sides to these stories, but sometimes we forget. ***Harry Potter Fic Re-Write!***


Author's Note: This needed it, too. In fact, I'd say this is more of a past due revamp than _NBNA_. That's just my opinion, though.

Artemis (now Alyssum Jade Hailes) has gone through a character change in this version – just as Ayane from _NBNA_ has gone through intense changes. Well...hers will be a little less dramatic, as this is still just the Wizarding World, and not the Spirit Realm. This is, in essence, her story, and not a continuation of Harry's fame.

I have and never will own J.K. Rowling's kickstart into writing... I just hope mine proves to be as strong as hers.

* * *

**The Twins**

Giggling pierced the stormy night as green eyes peeked through long fingers again, a soft "peekabo!" proving to keep the children entertained. Two sets of wide eyes found the phone hanging on the wall as it shrieked over a peal of thunder.

"Alyssum! Harry! Look at mommy!" Lily's bright green eyes barely masked the fear the little ones heard in her voice. As children do, though, they thought nothing of it and replied, cooing, to their mother. A set of eyes matching hers wandered to the window where a tiny white owl sat, pecking at the pane of glass. She saw his sister's follow suit and deep frown lines formed on her face. Lily stood and hurriedly walked the few steps to the window. The small bird burrowed into her chest as she pulled the tiny note free from its leg.

"Lily!"

Her mouth opened like a fish as she struggled to respond to her husband's voice. Fear reflected in her eyes as she focused on her children once again. Ignorant to the situation, but aware their mother was struggling, the two attempted to speak with her.

"Lily, you need–"

"I_ know_, James," she whispered as he reached the doorway. "Do we have time?"

The grim line marring his features – the only expression they really knew their father with – was somehow hopeful. "We need to make it quick. One at a time, Lily. Aly's the lighter of the two."

"Alyssum," Lily automatically corrected as she prepared the tiny basket that they hoped would lead their children to safety. As she secured a loop around each owl's leg, including the tiny addition, she felt her husband's warm embrace from behind her.

"I wish this wasn't happening."

"I know." His lips brushed her ear. "I won't let anything happen to them, Lily."

Even the children remained silent in the following moments, their hands clasped to one another. They watched, studying the actions of their parents as if they could understand. When the two stopped on either side of the bed, the children held tighter to one another.

"Alyssum, you're going on a little trip with the owls, okay?" Lily tried as she hesitantly sat next to their daughter. She stroked the tiny red waves that lay loose around the little girl's face and ended just below her earlobe. "Your brother will join you soon."

Her defiant eyes, the same color as her father's, turned to her mother as she shook her head and wrapped her arms around her brother's middle.

"Harry!"

Their parents eyes met and they shared an identical expression: a mixture of grief and joy.

"I'm sorry, Alyssum. You two will be back together soon. Please be good for the owls," her father murmured as he pulled her brother free from her. He turned away from the girls, feeling his heart break as Harry reached over his shoulder and cried out, "Lys!"

Alyssum struggled in her mother's hold when something wet touched her cheek. In wonder, she stared up at her mother's wet eyes. She shook her head once more before touching her mother's cheek.

"They're Potters, Lily," James said softly as he approached them, Harry's arms no longer reaching as he curled into his father. "We'll protect them to our last breath – it's our job." He placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead while the twins snuck in another hug. Secured in the basket a few moments later, Alyssum stared up at her family.

"We'll see you soon," Lily promised, the strain in her voice aging her nearly twenty years. "Fly safe, Aly..."

In the next instant the dark sky surrounded her. She focused on the stars, entranced by their simple beauty. The steady _whoosh_ of the wings gliding her through the air lulled her into an uneasy sleep she was soon jostled out of it when a different sound pierced her ears.

"What's that thing they're carryin'?" a voice called out.

A second chimed in, "Who cares?"

"What if it's the boy?" a third voice, the cool headed one, instantly quelled the squabble that had arisen between the other two. "It came from the direction they're hidden away, after all. On top of that, there was a protection spell."

"That makes sense," the second one mumbled. "Think the birds will let us get to it?"

There was a moment of silence; Alyssum strained her little ears to listen for the men. A terrible screech tore from the owls above her a split second before she plummeted to the earth – she watched the world around the basket swirl and she expanded her lungs, her mouth wide and ready to scream.

"Shh, no one's here to hurt you," the third voice said quietly by her ear as the world slowed. She peered into the darkness, trying to see her savior.

"Harry!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

The bewildered man lowered her to his feet and struggled with making out the scrawl on the note tucked by her feet. "_Alyssum Jade Potter_," he mumbled. His body froze as he finished the name and he poked his face closer to hers, examining her waves and her wide eyes. "...You're not important enough to be worried about," he decided quietly, his eyes lost to the hair matching her mother's. "You weren't part of the prophecy."

"Harry," she grumbled, pouting at the man. As an afterthought, her arm snaked out and she clutched at his large nose. "Harry!" she demanded, insistence filling her eyes and tone.

"Snape, the owls are dealt with! What's taking you?! Is that the boy?!" the first voice called to Alyssum's companion.

The man straightened, eyes locked with hers. "It's some kind of package of clothing," he called back, mounting his broomstick. "Let's go."

Between fitful bouts of sleep, Alyssum watched night turn into day. She amused herself with the clouds chasing themselves. It had grown chilly since the day Harry and she had shared the sweet cake their parents had celebrated their first birthday with and, if she had understood, she would have been grateful to her mother for the thick enveloping blanket tucked in with her.

Her mother would get her out of the basket soon, right?

Whimpers left her throat as a fierce hunger gnawed at her stomach. She knew nothing about getting her own food but soon, driven by her hunger, she rolled out of the basket and took to the shaky legs of a one year old, taking a look around her. Directly in front of her, a light blue square of a building rose out of the tall grass she struggled through. The smoke that billowed from the chimney promised her good things and she stumbled over herself repeatedly, doing her best to get to the house.

After what seemed like an eternity, she reached the foot of the stairs. The sun had dipped low in the sky had cast a bloody red hue over the obstacle before her. Once, Harry and she had fought over a toy and she had fallen down the small flight of stairs at home. She gulped and hesitantly dropped to her hands and knees, taking the incline the safest way she knew how.

"What's this? What would you be doing out here, little one?" a voice cooed from just inside the door as Alyssum reached the patio. A tiny old woman poked her face out from behind the screen door, peering down at Alyssum's mess of sweaty red hair. "Hey there, Little Red. What's your name then?"

"Harry!" she exclaimed, eyes wide. This lady was _not _her brother. This lady was _not_ her mother. This lady was _not_ her father.

As darkness finally overtook the sun and the woman, saying something she was unable to make out, started for her, something snapped inside the small girl. Screams echoed in her ears, flashes of light just behind her vision.

And then it was gone.

She was alone.

Fear welled up in that tiny one year old – fear and loneliness, an emotion she would not understand until much later in life. Her wide eyes frantically searched her surroundings, her tiny heart pounded in her chest, her lungs filled up with frantic breaths...

Then she wailed out her brother's name, a bone-chilling sound, before losing herself in hysterics.

* * *

Author's Note: It'll be weird for me to refer to her as anything other than "Artemis" for a long while. She's been that way since I was a teenager. I've learned so much over the past year. I've learned that it's okay to forget the past and move forward. It's okay to try new things. It's okay to love the things you love, whether or not anyone else thinks it's stupid, because those people like things you find to be stupid. Surprise: no one cares if they truly love you anyway! ...It's okay to _just live_. I owe him so much for opening my mind. Thank you, my love, for all you have taught me. I try to better things for me now. I do what makes _me_ happy.

I've never been more euphoric, even through depression. Be my eternity.


End file.
